5 Delicious Meals to Make with Veggies Fresh from the Garden

My garden has bloomed into full glory. I have tons of ripe zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans, and romaine. My herb garden is bursting with basil, thyme, dill, parsley, and rosemary. The bounty is ripening so fast, in fact, that I can barely keep up with picking everything that’s ready to eat.

I know. It’s a great problem to have.

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To get the most out of my garden, I created a weeknight meal plan that uses as many of these fruits, vegetables, and herbs as possible in each dish. Check out the below recipes for some serious garden-fresh inspiration:

Thai Zoodle Recipe

There has been at least one enormous zucchini hiding in the vines practically every day for the last few weeks. Just when I think I picked them all, there’s another that just appears!

I used to be a one-trick pony when it came to zucchini. In the summer, I liked it on the grill as a sidekick to steak. The end. That was before I discovered the culinary phenomenon known as zoodles. After reading DIY Home & Health’s zoodle recipes, I bought a spiralizer and started cutting my zucchini into long, noodle-like strands. In this form, zucchini is so versatile.

This meal is a real winner, as it allows me to use not only a giant zucchini from the garden, but it’s versatile enough that I can include one of my red bell peppers and a few carrots. Cut the carrots into strips and sauté with the rest of the veggies, or put them in the spiralizer and add some texture to the zoodles. If you don’t have access to wild-caught salmon, use chicken instead. Either way, this is a delicious dish bursting with color and flavor.

Beef Over Garden-Fresh Salad

Simple salads make for a great summer dinner, especially when served alongside a steak. Ceramcor created this awesome infographic to show you how to grill a steak perfect. Afterwards, just add it to a bed of chopped lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and sweet peas. Fresh basil and balsamic vinaigrette dressing complement both the meat and the veggies.

Cucumber Salad With Greek Yogurt

While I’m on the topic of garden-fresh salad, this one is really easy. I toss three to four thinly-sliced cucumbers (I use my spiralizer also for this!) with a small, diced red onion with a cup of Greek yogurt, a few tablespoons of lemon-infused olive oil and chopped dill and parsley.

Garden Tomato and Basil Soup (With Grilled Cheese, of Course!)

I know what you’re thinking. Soup?! In this heat?!

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Yes, I believe in eating soup in the summer, but only if it’s made with fresh tomatoes and basil plucked from the garden. Tomato basil soup is simple and delicious, and it helps me put to use the mountains of ripe tomatoes and basil in my garden.

Bonus points if you make the accompanying grilled cheese right on the grill.

Summer Veggie Quinoa Bowl

Quinoa needs a heavy dose of added ingredients to pass the test in my house. That means — you guessed it — lots of vegetables and herbs.

My favorite quinoa bowl recipe is super simple. While a cup of quinoa is cooking, I dice and sauté two tomatoes, a bell pepper and half of a red onion in a lemon and thyme and rosemary-infused olive oil. I then snap the ends off a few handfuls of green beans and add them to the sauté along with a handful of edamame. When the quinoa is tender, I add it to the saucepan, toss and serve. If there is any left over, this dish is even better the next day, hot or cold.

There you have it — five recipes from the garden guaranteed to satisfy your summer taste buds.

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